Fletcher has responded by saying he would run a clean campaign and not attack his rivals. His call for his opponents to make a similar pledge was rejected as a ploy so Fletcher could avoid tough questions about his political evolution.

So far each of the a candidates appears to be faring well under intense scrutiny. There have been no bombshell stories with salacious details but not for the lack of trying. One local television station has been calling people who used to work for each of the candidates to inquire if they had ever witnessed any workplace harassment or discrimination under the candidate's leadership.

Even small transgressions have gained greater relevance. The U-T San Diego reported last week that Aguirre and Faulconer had been tardy on their property taxes, resulting in late fees of $411 and $104, respectively. Voice of San Diego reported Faulconer’s wife was a few days late in paying the city business tax for her event catering firm.

The U-T’s Watchdog team asked each of the major candidates when they last took sexual harassment training and had them to take a sexual harassment quiz, which they all passed with 100 percent scores.

The Watchdog is fact-checking resumés, examining finances, interviewing current and past associates scouring public records and asking the candidates to take a personality test.

Filner resigned Aug. 30 after numerous women publicly accused him of sexual misconduct, including unwanted sexual advances, groping and derogatory comments. While those alleged actions removed him from office, Filner’s tenure was also marked by a lack of openness, questionable development decisions and peculiar spending of city money.

Each of the major candidates is trying to portray himself as the anti-Filner, a man of high moral fiber who can move the city forward to a bright future. Thanks to Filner — as Fletcher joked at a recent debate — “the bar is very low” for the next mayor to do better than Filner.

Aguirre, now in private practice, said he showed his integrity during his 2004-08 term as city attorney when he took on the City Hall establishment on pension issues and a too-tall building being constructed by Sunroad that was eventually lowered.

“I think integrity is always important and it’s been driven home even more so now with what happened,” Aguirre said. “The city needs someone who has a demonstrated track record of doing what’s they think is right even if it’s going to cost them politically. Whether you agree with me or not, I think most people would say Mike did what he really thought was the right thing to do.”

Alvarez, a first-term councilman, frequently talks about his working-class roots in Barrio Logan and how that is the biggest difference between him and the other candidates.

“We have different values,” Alvarez said. “We come from a different perspective on the working-class individual. I grew up poor so my upbringing was very different and so those experiences have shaped who I am and it’s very different than the other individuals. Hard work is very important in my life. I never achieved anything easily in my life and so I’m dedicated and a public servant first.”